Another Me: Kiara's Journey
by Chizuru17
Summary: Kiara is not getting along with her parents, much like any other teenager. What's new? However, when she gets the chance to go back to the past to figure out what screwed her father up so much, she eagerly goes back to before Scar's reign to search for clues. Can Kiara survive the past or will she lose herself in the process?


**Another Me: Kiara's Journey **

**Step I **

~O~

"_Blah." _

"_Blah."_

"_Blah, blah, blah….blahblahblah?"_

Being able to tune out another person's voice is a great ability to have. It allows you to keep yourself calm and your mind to wander to more important places instead of just hearing someone waste thirty minutes of your life with a rant.

Nobody had this skill down to an exact art better than Princess Kiara of the Pride Lands. Growing up, she had broken so many of her Father's rules that she knew exactly what would come out of his mouth before he could even form syllables on the tip of his tongue.

Today, as she sat at the edge of Pride Rock, she at least had the excuse of the great view distracting her instead of just ignoring her dad again. It was like the stretch upon stretch of plains were calling her name for her to frolic amongst them. The mystery of the land beyond their borders brought a semi-happy smile on her mussle as she daydreamed of running around without a care in the world.

"Kiara, are you even listening to me?"

Another thing Kiara learned was that if her name was ever said, she had to give some sort of yes as a response no matter what.

Still halfway between her dream world and reality, she replied with a,"Hmm, yeah! Sure, yea…" However, when she caught her father's stern look, she quickly backtracked and gave a nervous laugh. "I-I mean, yes sir! Haha…"

Simba's frown deepened, "What has gotten into you lately? Is everything I say to you a joke now?"

_Of course not. If having a warthog and meerkat follow me around isn't a joke, then nothing is. _"No…" Kiara replied as neutrally as possible. "But…"

"But what, Kiara? It seems like we keep going in this same circle over and over again. You keep skipping out on your lessons, running away from home…It's like I don't even know you anymore!" Her father exclaimed out of frustration. "What is so hard about listening to us that you don't get?"

A twinge of annoyance crossed Kiara's features, why did he always have to talk to her like that? "It's embarrassing, Dad! I'm almost an adult now. I can think for myself."

"You may think you're grown up enough to take on the world, but you're sadly mistaken," Simba threw back at her harshly. "Kiara, you don't know what it's like to live out there on your own. You have no idea how everyday is a struggle for the other lionesses around your age have to survive without the help of family or even a pride. You should stop being so selfish and be grateful for the things you _do_ have!"

Catching the hurt look on Kiara's face, Simba tried his hardest to calm down and spoke in a much more gentler tone of voice, "Look, we're just trying to make sure your life was better that ours were. Your mother and I had to struggle to get where we are now and I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"It's just not fair!" Kiara stomped her paw on the ground, still very angry and determined to hurt her dad in the way he hurt her. "Its my life and I just want to live it the way I want to! I never asked to be born here and I never asked for you to take care of me! You want to know why I run away? It's because all of your stupid rules and traditions are driving me crazy!"

"It's because I'm your father that I even allow you to live here!" Simba finally exploded, getting into her face. "You _will_ learn to show respect for me, young lady and you will not be leaving Pride Rock until I see some real improvement! I _cannot_ and I _will not _have you acting like some spoiled brat!"

"You may be my father but _you can't tell me what to do_!" Kiara screamed at the top of her lungs to silence him.

She felt her face burn with such anger and hurt that tears instantly sprung to her eyes. With a sob, Kiara sprinted away from her father as quickly as she could. The teenaged lioness was so distressed that she didn't realize or care that she had passed her mother on her way down the ramp of Pride Rock.

As Nala climbed her way up to the promontory, she watched Kiara run off with no small amount of confusion on her face. She turned to Simba, "So, do you think that solved anything?"

"Don't start, I'm not in the mood," he said impatiently.

The light beige colored lioness arched an eyebrow, ignoring him. "I think you owe me an explanation about what's been going on here. It's like I can't leave you two alone for a minute without Kiara running away in tears."

Simba let his shoulder sag a little, giving another sigh in reluctance. He wasn't going to start another fight, especially with Nala. It wasn't fair on her.

"I just don't know what to do with her. I try being strict with her, I try grounding her and I even try to let her have a day without Timon or Pumbaa but nothing seems to be working. It's like everything I say or do makes me some sort of devil in her eyes. "

"It's like that with most teenagers, Simba," his mate replied calmly. "Don't tell me that you, Mr. 'I laugh in the face of danger' has never broke a few rules."

"Yeah, well, it's a little different when you live the life of Hakuna Matata. Timon and Pumbaa, remember?"

"How could I forget?" Nala replied teasingly. "Even still, you have to accept that your little girl's growing up. She going to want to rage against everything and anything because she wants to find her own path in life. Just be glad she wants to explore the Pride Lands and not becoming boy crazy, yet."

Simba frowned deeply, "I know, I know…but I don't want to let go of her just yet. She's a good girl. I can just see someone using it against her and getting her in big trouble. I don't want her to go through what I went through."

Nala watched her mate's eyes give off a familiar distant look in them. It wasn't always noticeable and over the years, Simba had been able to hide it well behind a smile but she knew better than anyone else. At times, it was like Simba had still been haunted by the remnants of the past and she couldn't imagine what kind of things he had experienced when he was missing from the Pride lands years ago.

She laid her head on his shoulder, her own way of showing reassurance towards him and she soon found him relaxing. They sat there for a few moments, quietly. Eventually Nala whispered, "You know we're not going anywhere, right? We haven't seen the Outsiders in a few seasons, maybe they've moved on. Don't you think that you should move on, too?"

Simba made no move to speak and continued on in his own little world with the same thoughtful look on his face. "Maybe you're right…I've wound myself up a little too much lately." He closed his eyes, "My father would have wanted me to move on. Heh, maybe I should get Rafiki to hit me upside the head again, seems I've almost forgotten his lesson."

"Wait, hold on. You're comparing me to the monkey?" Nala interjected, trying to throw some humor into the heavy conversation they were having.

Luckily for her, it made Simba give a mischievous smile. "Not at all, but since you brought it up-"

The Queen gave him a not so gentle yet playful shove making him stumble a little, "Watch it! I'm still not happy with you making our daughter cry, you're still on my bad list. So, what are you going to do to fix it?"

"Hmm…Hmm, I dunno," Simba wracked his brains. His eyes then lit up in a playful way. "How about we let her hunt on her own? You can be her own personal trainer and everything. Go girl power!"

"Seriously?"

"Well, she's been begging us forever to let her do it and she'll be so tired by the time you get through with her that she won't have anything else to complain about. It's a win-win situation. That is, unless you're afraid that you can't handle it."

Nala rolled her eyes, "Oh, don't you worry about me, I can handle it. It's just…are you sure you can handle this? After all, this is a huge stepping stone for all of us. I just don't want you to back out of it."

"Like you said, our little girl's growing up." Simba replied simply. He put his paw up playfully, "I swear, no matter how crazy the hunts get, I won't stop either one of you. Elephant's honor."

His mate poked him in the chest as a mock warning, "Good, that's what I like to hear." Feeling a little excited for Kiara and proud of Simba's decision, she decided a little reward was in order. "Close your eyes."

"Uhh, okay…"

As he did, Nala gave him a big lick on his cheek. Opening his eyes and grinning cheekily, he asked, "Oooh, I like! What was that for?"

Nala smiled warmly, "For turning back into the lion I know and love."

OoO

Kiara was lost.

Very lost.

_Though it's not my fault. _the young lioness told herself, still more than a little miffed about what happened earlier. _It's not my fault my dad made me so mad that I wanted to run so far away from home. It's not my fault my stupid dad hurt my feelings so bad that I was crying and I made a wrong turn. It's not my stupid, pigheaded, control freak of a father's fault that I-_

Kiara quickly shook her head. She decided that having lengthy rants to herself wasn't very healthy and that she needed to focus more on more important things at hand. Her paws were hurting and her stomach was very angry at her for skipping out on lunch. Not only that but there was no way for her to retrace her steps when all she saw around her was a sea of tall, golden grass. Now was no time to panic.

The honey furred lioness continued to drag her tired paws forward, looking all around her for some sort of landmark, some sort of anything that she could at least sit under for just a little while. It was irritating how the sun in the sky had continued to beat down upon her back.

In the distance, she could make out some sort of tall, black thing swaying back and forth in-between the very visible heat waves. As she narrowed her eyes, a great big smile came across her face as she could make out some of the features. The random black thing wasn't random at all, it was a tree!

_Holy sweet Mufasa! A tree! _Kiara thought excitedly, blinking a few times to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. When it became apparent that it was indeed a tree, she gave an excited cheer and bounded towards her destination. "Shade! Whoooohooo!"

Eventually, as she came closer and closer towards the tree she was so excited to see, Kiara realized that it was pretty much the biggest tree she had ever come across in her life. Its trunk was as thick as it was massive and reached way beyond the limits of the sky. The huge tree was adorned with thousands upon unlimited different shades of brilliant yellow green and dark green leaves, some of which sashayed and flew upon the light breeze like a dancer.

Kiara couldn't help but admire not only the grandness and sheer beauty of it all as she relaxed at the base of the tree. The great space of shade gave her such a feeling of calmness that she even felt almost at peace enough to rest her eyes for a few minutes.

_It wouldn't hurt to rest for a little while…I'll only shut my eyes for five minutes, then I'll come home. _she told herself as her eyes started to droop. _I'm sure if I'm gone long enough, Dad'll feel guilty enough to apologize. _

Yawning lazily, Kiara stretched out on her stomach and rested her head on her paws, fully intending to enjoy the emptiness of her mind and the rustling sound of the leaves above her.

"Asante sana, squash banana, Were nugu mimi hapana!"

Kiara opened an eye, _What the…?_

"Asante sana, squash banana, Were nugu mimi hapana!"

Groaning a little, Kiara put her paws over her ears. This was not happening to her right now. Maybe she didn't know what the song was saying but she did know who the song was coming from.

"Asante sana, squash banana, Were nugu mimi hapana!"

"That's it…" Kiara mumbled, sitting up. She was going to completely forget about her nap. It was personal now.

Putting her ear against the tree, she realized that Rafiki's song was not coming from somewhere outside but rather, _inside _of the tree. Smirking to herself, she came up with a crafty little plan.

_Since the monkey likes play jokes on other people. I think it's only fair to return the favor. _

The teenaged lioness quickly set herself up the base of the tree, latching her claws into its rough bark. At first, she had to get used to climbing the thing as sometimes she would get her claws stuck in place or she would slide down a few times but it wasn't long until she was able to get into the rhythm of slowly inching up the tree. As she got to the area where the leaves and other sort of foliage started to get in her way, Kiara twisted her body and limbs into many awkward positions in order to keep her balance.

"Oww…oww…oww…Ouch!" Kiara yelped as some of the branches poked themselves into her fur and body. "Stupid branch! Move out of my way!"

The offending branch didn't really like being called stupid so it smacked the young princess between her eyes. Letting out a surprise gasp filled with pain, Kiara shifted her weight to rub the hurt away. That was when she heard a loud cracking sound and panic set into her heart.

"Oh no! No! No! No! No! No! _No_!"

The branch she was sitting on was cracking and fast. Kiara tried to scramble away and find another branch but it was too late. The broken branch finally snapped and it dropped Kiara faster than a person would drop a burning plate.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Her body hit everything and everything as soon she met the ground with a resounding BAM! Battered and surely bruised, her struggle to get her paws was met with crazed laughter.

"Hehehehe! Princess Kiara! How nice of you to drop in!"

Rafiki waved away some of the dust cloud that the impact of her fall had created. His wide grin made Kiara almost forget her first impulse to find a corner and cry in embarrassment.

"Heh, yeah. I'm so sorry about that," she grated a little in pain. After moving her paws around as gingerly as possible to make sure nothing was broken, she flashed him an apologetic grin. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything, Mr. Rafiki."

"Oh ho, ho! Rafiki is always ready for company!" the elderly baboon told her cheerfully, giving something of a grand bowing gesture. "Especially in de presence of de lovely Princess! So what brings you down from de frone?"

"Ah, let's just say I'm on a little adventure…" Kiara replied with a weak smile, leaving out the fact that her father drove her to run away from home.

Rafiki nodded, "I see, like fater, like daughter! You are your fater's girl, just as curious as he was. Dis is very good."

_Pfft, yeah right. Have you got your lions crossed._ The teenaged lioness thought, rolling her eyes amusedly. Looking around the huge tree, the images of small lions that Rafiki had drawn caught her attention. "Wow! Did you draw all those?"

"Hehe, who else could it be? Rafiki is the only one in dis tree, you silly girl." The elderly baboon said teasingly. "Dis is where I keep all of de legends of your granfaders, great grandfaders and great great grandfaders before you. You should even be able to recognize you dere somewhere."

"Really?" Kiara asked in awe, studying every drawing in great detail. There were so many different kinds of drawings with their own designs and styles that no two could be mistaken for being the same. While she could make out the drawings of her parents and even herself, she found that she was confused on a picture of a little dark cub beside her.

She squinted at it a few times but no immediate faces or names came to mind, "So, who's that, Rafiki? I don't think I've seen that lion before, is he supposed to be a missing brother or something?"

Rafiki laughed, "Oh no! No! Dat would be de little cub, Kovu, Princess Kiara."

"Oh yeah! I remember! We used to have so much fun playing together," Kiara exclaimed cheerfully. She giggled at the little frown the cub had, "Now that you mention it, he really does look like him."

"Dis brings back old memories. Your fader used to look at all of dese pictures with me as a cub too, did you know dat he painted all over my wall one time. De little devil!"

_Ugh, what is your obsession with my dad?_ Kiara frowned slightly, "You know something? I don't think I'm anything like my dad at all. Maybe I'm more like my mom, does anybody think of that?"

"Oh?" the elderly baboon cocked his head and examined her, "Yes, de beauty is dere and your modder was certainly headstrong. However, what is wrong wit being like your father? He is a great lion."

Kiara snorted, "You're just saying that because you don't live with him. Trust me, he's absolutely nothing like he used to be. He wouldn't know the meaning of the word 'fun' even if it hit him upside the head."

"Hmm, Rafiki does not dink dis is true," he said with a shake of his head. "You are his precious little flower, Princess Kiara. You may just be a bud right now but one day you will blossom beautifully, so he has to take real good care of you. It is not that he has forgotten what fun is but sometimes dere are other things more important in life."

"Well, this flower doesn't want to blossom like he wants her to," the teenaged princess grumbled. "If he is or was as mischievous as you say he was, why does he have to act like such a grumpy old fart? Why can't he just act happy?"

"If Rafiki pointed out all of de stars in de sky, would you only see de back of his hand? Or would you look past and see all of the beauty of the heavens and de skies above?"

Kiara wrinkled up her nose in confusion, "I don't think I understand. What does stars and glowing things have to do with my dad?"

"It is a metaphor, Princess Kiara. Rafiki is just saying dat you need to look beyond what you see sometimes, maybe you will find dere is more to your fader dat you see on the surface," the elderly baboon told her sagely, a wry smile crossed his face. "You will understand someday."

The teenaged lioness rolled her eyes amusedly, "Whatever you say. Maybe I'd understand him if we went back in time. It'd be so much easier then. You know, teenager to teenager and all that."

Rafiki's beady little eyes flashed with a playful wickedness and he rubs his hands together, "Den your wish is my command, Princess Kiara. I dink I have de thing you have been searching for…if you are willing to try it!"

"…What are you talking about?" The princess asked, shifting uneasily. He came closer and closer to her with a wild eagerness on his face that was creeping her out. "W-W…w-what are you thinking? S-Stop it, you're creeping me out!"

He let out a crazy laugh like a madman and swiftly shot something out from behind him. Kiara let out a squeak of terror and cowered a little as he held up above his head a bunch of old dingy weeds.

"Behold, Princess Kiara! I present to you de key to de past!"


End file.
